1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a braking force input system for motorcycles and the like that is controlled by being pressed down by a driver when the brake is applied. The present invention also relates to a brake pedal to be used for a motorcycle or the like, and more specifically to a foldable brake pedal.
2. Description of Background Art
The motorcycles that are called American type may be provided with a plate-shaped step called “step plate” as a step on which the driver put his/her feet. In such motorcycles, the brake pedal that is to be disposed in the vicinity of the step plate is located laterally outside, and relatively away from the vehicle body, considering the operability of the brake pedal that is controlled by the foot placed on the step.
When the brake pedal is disposed at a position away from the vehicle body toward the outside, it is not desirable in terms of design to place the operating unit to which a foot force of the driver is introduced via the brake pedal (for example, a master cylinder) also outside the vehicle body. Therefore, the operating unit is disposed at the position near the vehicle body. In order to do so, it is necessary to elongate the brake pedal in the lateral direction. Since elongating the brake pedal in the lateral direction causes a large moment at the proximal portion and the supporting portion thereof when a foot force is introduced to the brake pedal, it is then necessary to increase the strength of those portions, which may cause an increase in weight.
A brake pedal for a motorcycle is disclosed, for example, in JP-U-62-5994. The brake pedal in this publication comprises a fixed pedal portion fixed at the distal end of the lever unit, and a movable pedal portion retractably provided on the side of the fixed pedal portion.
On the other hand, the motorcycles referred to as an American type may be provided with a plate-shaped step called “step plate” as a step on which the driver places his/her feet. Since the step plate of this type has a relatively high degree of freedom in an area to place the feet, the brake pedal to be placed in the vicinity of the step plate has a laterally elongated shape, so that it can be pressed from any foot position. The brake pedal is pivotally supported so that the pedal pad unit on which a foot force from the driver is introduced is foldable with respect to the pedal lever unit that is rotatably supported on the vehicle body side.
In such brake pedals, the pedal pad unit includes a flat depressing surface forming portion to be covered by a cover on the front face on which the driver depresses the pedal. A mounting portion extends from the depressing surface forming portion in the direction opposite from the cover for being pivotally mounted on the pedal lever unit. The depressing surface forming portion and the mounting portion are separate units joined by welding.
The pedal lever unit also comprises an extending portion that is rotatably supported on the vehicle body side at the proximal end and extending obliquely from the proximal end toward the upper front. A supporting portion is provided at the distal end of the extending portion in the direction intersecting the extending portion for pivotally supporting the pedal pad unit. The extending portion and the supporting member are separate units joined by welding.
However, as described above, there is a problem in that simply joining the pressing surface forming portion and the mounting portion of the pedal pad unit by welding and joining the extended portion and the supporting portion of the pedal lever portion by welding increases the number of components and increases the manufacturing cost due to the necessity of the welding operation.